


Cold

by KairiasYami2



Series: 500 Words A Day [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Aliens, Gen, Outer Space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:14:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24382633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KairiasYami2/pseuds/KairiasYami2
Summary: She finds herself cursing whoever it was who decided that frozen deserts should be a thing.(Day 4 of '500 word challenge' I'm doing with myself.)
Series: 500 Words A Day [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756213
Kudos: 3





	Cold

Prompt: Chill

* * *

She finds herself cursing whoever it was who decided that frozen deserts should be a thing. Deserts are horrid all on their own - little to no shelter from the elements and even fewer resources necessary for survival. Combine that with blistering cold, and it’s little surprise that she has now sworn to herself to never return to this planet. Who cares if the pay is good? Who cares about the fact that this planet has an atmosphere nearly perfect for humans and other Earthean beings? Who cares if she would be able to gain untold amounts of fame if she finds proof of alien life forms?

None of that is worth the sheer torture she is currently experiencing, trudging through nearly two feet of snow during a blizzard, and utterly lost. 

She is so demanding a bonus when she gets back to the _New Horizon_. This was not in the briefing, and definitely not in her job description. She was just tagging along with the exploration group as a precautionary measure, to make sure there would be no diplomacy mishaps in the event that any aliens were inhabiting the planet. The storms that constantly cover the planet’s surface mess with all of their equipment, making it hard to scan for signs of life, but since it is in the same system as their new home they wanted to make sure they wouldn’t have hostile neighbors. 

They didn’t realize that the same storms that neutralize their scanning also interferes with the landing sequences of their planet-shuttles. And she hadn’t realized that despite the mandatory training all colonists took to prepare them for space travel, the terror of plummeting towards the surface of an unexplored planet is not something that can be replicated in training. She is not going to be leaving the _New Horizon_ after this until she is guaranteed not to die when descending toward a planet. Even if she had been going stir crazy the past few years stuck in the colony ship, she will tolerate the now too-familiar setting if it means she will never have to experience that terror again. 

She feels a shiver go down her back, and absently wonders if it’s from the ever-present cold she is slowly becoming numb to or if it’s a reaction to the lingering terror from their doomed descent. _Or maybe_ , she thinks as she spies something and pauses, _it’s from being watched._ Distantly she realizes she should probably be more shocked at the sight in front of her, but her thoughts have been getting slowly more incoherent with every step she takes and she’s exhausted, so she can’t find it in herself to really care. 

Still though, despite her lack of reaction, it is an amazing sight in front of her. She is, as far as she knows, the first human in history to meet an alien. 

Cool.


End file.
